Sounding toy



June 17,-` 1958 F. M. BORING soUNDING Toy Filed Feb. 1, 1957 INVENORFMBorz' v j/f KK j TTORNEY SOUNDNG TOY Frank M. Boring,'Smithlield, N.C.

Application February 1, 1957, Serial No. 637,691

8 Claims. (Cl. 46-52) This invention relates to a novel sounding toyintended to be propelled through the air and including parts forming asiren, the rotor of which is driven by the impulse of air passingthrough the siren so that the siren is in effect an impulse turbine.

, More particularly, it is an aim of the present invention to provide asiren-type sounding toy of extremely simple yet unique constructioncapable of producing siren tones of varying pitch depending upon thespeed of movement of the toy through the air.

A further object of the invention is to provide a toy of theaforedescribed character composed of a minimum number of parts, whichmay be very economically manufactured and yet which will be suicientlyrugged and durable to withstand rough use.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter becomemore fully apparent from the following description of the drawing,illustrating a presently preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is an end elevational view looking toward the forward end ofthe toy;

Y Figure '2 is a side elevational view thereof showing an intermediateportion of the toy in section, along a plane as indicated by the line2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along aplane as indicatedV by the line 3-3 of l Figure 1; l

`Figures 4 and 5 are cross sectional views through the toy, takensubstantialy along planes as indicated by the lines 4-4 and 5 5,respectively, of Figure 2, and

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed sectional view of a portionof the rotor, taken substantially along a plane as indicated by the line6-6 of Figure 4.

Referring more specifically to the drawing, the toy jnitsV entiretyhisdesignated generally 8. 'The toy 8 is elongated and of substantiallyrocket-shape, and includes a forward section, designated generally 9,and a rear section designated generally 10. The forward portion of thetoy 8 constitutes a nose 11 and the rear portion thereof constitutes atail 12 which is somewhat longer than the nose 11. The toy 8 alsoincludes an intermediate portion forming a siren, designated generally13.

The nose 11 extends forwardly from a front wall 14 of the stator orcasing 15 of the siren 13 and said nose 1'1 tapers to a point 16 at itsforward end. The nose 11 is composed of four corresponding fins 17. Eachof the fins 17 tapers in thickness from the axis of the nose 11 to theouter edge 18 of said iin and each n 17 also tapers in thickness towardthe forward end 16 of the nose, and the outer edges 18 of the finsconverge with one another and merge at the point 16. A cap 19 formed ofa cushioning material such as rubber is shown detachably mounted overthe point 16 of the nose 11 in Figure 2. The cap 19 can be utilized toprotect the point from damage and to prevent the point 16 from damagingan object or person which might be struck by the toy 8, while said toyis in flight.

The tail 12 is likewise preferably formed of four cortates arent r'iceresponding fins 20. The fins 20 are preferably of uniform thickness andwidth from end-to-end of the tail 12 and are formed integral with orsuitably secured to and extend rearwardly from a substantially Hat rearwall 21 of the casing or stator 15.

The front wall 14 has a rearwardly extending annular tapered flange 22and the rear wall 21 has a forwardly extending annular flange 23 whichis ared outwardly and the forward edge of which abuts the rear edge ofthe flange 22 to form the annular side wall 24 of the stator or casing15 which is preferably tapered rearwardly, as seen in Figures 2 and 3.The rear edge of the flange 22 is preferably provided with pins 25 whichextend rearwardly therefrom and which snugly engage in forwardly openingsockets 26 of the ange 23 for connecting said flanges and for assemblingthe casing or stator 15. The wall 14 and flange 22 together with thenose `11 form the forward section 9 of the toy body and the rear wall21, its ange 23 and the tail 12 constitute the rear section 10 of thetoy. The flanges 22 and 23 have outwardlyV opening notches which aredisposed in registration when the casing 15 is assembled, to form thecircumferentially spaced slots 27 of thestator wall 24, as best seen inFigures 3 and 4. v

The siren 13 also includes a rotor, designated generally 28, including adisc 29 which is disposed within the casing 15,` adjacent the rear wall21. A spindle 30 extends through the central portion of the disc 29. Thecenters of the front and rear walls 14 and 21, respectively, areprovided with inwardly opening depressions forming aligned bearings 31which extend into central portions of the nose 11 and tail 12. The endsof the spindle 30 are journaled in said bearings 31 to rotatably mountthe rotor 2S, of which the disc 29 forms a part, within the stator 15.Said rotor also includes an annular liange 32 which extends forwardlyfrom the periphery of the disc 29 and which is ared toward its openforward end. Said open forward end 33 constitutes the open forward endof the rotor 28 and is disposed within the casing 15 behind and adjacentthe front wall 14. The liared annular wall or flange 32 is provided withcir- Vcumferentially spaced slots 34 which move into and out ofregistration with the slots 27 when the rotor 28 is revolved. The disc29 whichforms the rear wall of the rotor 28 has a plurality of portionsstruck therefrom which are bent inwardly and forwardly to form vanes 35.The vanes 35 ar'e secured to the disc 29 along corre spending radialedges thereof, Yand said vanes 35v all extend in the same direction fromthe disc 29 and are uniformly pitched. The vanes 35 form openings 36 inthe disc 29. The front wall 14, between the fins 17, is provided withopenings 37 which open into the rotor 28 through the open front 33thereof, and the rear wall 21 is provided with openings 38 between thefins 2t? and which align with the openings 37.

The toy 8 is of projectile shape and may be propelled in any suitablemanner through the air. It will be readily obvious that the nose 11 issubstantially heavier than the tail 12 so that said nose will constitutethe leading end of the toy when in ight. Consequently, air will enterthe siren 13 through the entrance openings 37 in the front wall 14 andwill pass into the rotor 23 through its open front 33. The air willimpinge against the rotor vanes 35 to cause the rotor to be revolvedclockwise as viewed from front to rear of the toy, or as seen in Figure4. The plurality of vanes 35 will cause the rotor 28 to be revolved at ahigh speed, and the air will be deliected by the vanes 35, due tocentrifugal force, outwardly through the slots 34 and thence outwardlythrough the casing slots 27. The puffs of air escaping through the slots34 and 27, as the slots 34 are momentarily in registration with theslots 27, will produce tones asaasvi the pitch of which will rise andfall as the speed of rotation of the rotor 28 increases and decreases.Additionally, some of the air will escape through the openings 36outwardly through the rear wall openings 38, since the air will be tosome extent confined within the siren casing i5' due to the rearwardtapered construction thereof.

The rocket-shapedV toy may be propelled in any suitable maner in freeflight through the air as a projectile to operate in the aforedescribedmanner,'or said toy may be held by a tethering line 39 and swung in acircular path. An end of such a line 39 is shown in Figure n3 havingbranch portions 40 which are secured to` one of the nose fins V13 andone of the tail fins 20 through openings 41 thereof. The toy 3 may alsobe supported by a rigid bar forming a handle 42 an end of which may besecured by a fastening 43 tov the aforementioned tail fin 2t) throughthe opening 41 thereof, so that the toy 8 may be held by the handle 42,as illustrated in Figure 2, out of the window of a moving vehicle, forexample, to be actuated by the movement of air relative to the toy, itbeing understood that the nose 1E.. will be disposed to face forwardly.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may be resortedto, without departing from the function or scope of the invention ashereinafter defined by the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

l. A sounding toy comprising an elongated toy body having a forwardportion defining a nose and a rear portion defining a tail, anintermediate portion of the toy body being interposed between andconnecting adjacent ends of the nose and tail and constituting a hollowchamber forming a siren stator, said stator comprising a casing definingthe chamber and including a front wall, a rear Wall and an annular sidewall, a siren rotor loosely disy posed within said chamber including an.annular side wall and a rear wall, a spindle extending axially throughandV secured to said rotor, said front and rear walls of 'the casinghaving aligned bearings in which the ends of said spindle are journalledfor rotatably mounting the rotor in the casing, said rotor having anopen front `facing toward the casing front wall, vanes disposed withinsaid rotor and supported by the rear wall thereof, said vanes all beingpitched in the same direction such that air passing into said rotor,parallel to the axis thereof, will impinge against the vanes to revolvethe rotor and will be deflected centrifugally by the vanes, said frontwall` of the casing having openings for admitting air to the casing androtor, said casing side wall and the rotor side wall having slots forescape of air from the casing when the rotor slots are in registrationWith the casing slots and whereby the escaping'air will beemitted in 4puffs as the rotor is revolved.

2. A sounding toy as in claim l, said nose tapering from the siren toits forward end and comprising a plurality of longitudinaly extendingfins, said fins tapering and converging toward the forward end of thenose, said casing front wall openings being disposed between said tins.

3. A sounding toy as in claim 2, wherein said tail comprises a pluralityof elongated fins disposed longitudinally of the toy, said tail beinglonger than the nose.

4. A sounding toy as in claim 3, wherein said nose fins are ofsubstantial thickness and diminish in thickness from the axis of thenose to the outer edges of said fins and toward the forward ends of thefins and wherein said tail fins are relatively thin throughout so thatthe nose of the toy will be substantially heavier than the tail.

5. A sounding toy as in claim 4, and a protector cap of cushioningmaterial detachably mounted on the forward end of the nose.

6;V A sounding toy as in claim l, said vanes comprising struck-outportions of the rear wall and the rotor and forming air escape openingsin said rear wall, and the rear wall of the casing having air escapeopenings for escape of a part of the air from the siren casing.

7. A sounding toy comprising an elongated toy body having a taperedforward end defining a nose and an elongated rear portion defining atail, said toy body including an intermediate portion interposed betweenand connecting the nose and tail, said intermediate portion comprising acasing defining a siren stator including a front wall having entranceopenings and an annular side wall having circumferentially spaced airescape slots, the rotor constituting a part of the siren, meansrotatably supporting said rotor within the casing, said rotor includingpitched vanes arranged to be engaged by air` entering through saidentrance openings for re* volving the rotor and for propellingr the aircentrifngally of the rotor,` said rotor including an annular outer wallprovided with slots movabie into and out of registration with the casingslots when the rotor is revolved and through which rotor slots andcasing slots the centrifugally propelled air is emitted in puffs toproduce siren tones.

8, A toy asin claim 7, wherein said tail and nose each comprise aplurality of fins, the fins of said nose being substantially thickerthan the fins of the tail and tapering in thickness outwardly andforwardly thereof, said nose fins converging with one another to a pointat the forward end of the nose, said entrance openings being disposedbetween said nose tins.

' Upton Nov. 3, 1914 Laurens et al. June 15, 1944

